Review on lane 2024

Find here a photo collection of LANE 2024:

https://magentacloud.de/s/4kiRXGBaNTYesyx

The Casual Reception

Everything started on Sunday evening... A part of our team took care of the final details at the conference venue in the Stadthalle Fürth, while the others, prepared with almost 350 name badges, could hardly wait to welcome our first guests to the “Casino Night” in the ballroom of the “Grüner Baum” restaurant. We handed over symbolic game chips to each participant and let the games begin. It was a really fun evening with delicious food, refreshing drinks, nice conversations and, last but not least, gambling on roulette, blackjack and chuck a luck.

The Conference

After this smooth start, the first day of the conference began with the “Keep Lasers Running” sporting event at 6.30 in the morning. Not even the rainy weather could stop the tough men and women from getting the conference off to a sporty start. After the opening by Prof. Michael Schmidt, the participants were able to listen to the inspiring keynote talks given by Prof. Stefan Kaierle (Laser Zentrum Hannover), Prof. Yasuhiro Okamoto (Okayama University), Mirko Sinico (KU Leuven, winner of the LANE 2022 Best Presentation Award) and, last but not least, the presentations by the two winners of this year's WLT Award: Dr. Carolin Rothhardt (Fraunhofer Institute IOF) and Dr. Ömer Üstündag (Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing). Afterwards, it was time for a break in the foyer and it immediately became clear what makes LANE so special: the lively international atmosphere. Scientists, developers, technical salespeople and entrepreneurs from all over the world discuss the latest research results in the field of laser material processing. The booths of internationally renowned companies at the accompanying industrial exhibition form the framework for this ambience and reinforce our claim to see LANE as a link between research work and industrial application.

The Conference Dinner

Who will be the next Knight of Laser Technology? The traditional Conference Dinner in the Ofenwerk Nuremberg gave the answer. After an extraordinary candle light dinner surrounded by classic cars, the highlight of the evening came up: The last knight, Prof. Reinhart Poprawe, came on stage to give the laudation for our new knight Prof. David (Dave) Bourell – congratulations! Prof. Bourell is since the beginning of the conference series part of the LANE family and we are very happy that he and his amazing wife Nancy stayed with us during the whole conference.

The Technical Sessions

In four conference days all relevant topics of laser material processing have been presented and discussed in technical depth in about 200 talks from science and industry. The range of topics went from Additive Manufacturing, Beam Shaping, Laser Welding, Ultrashort Pulse Processing and Surface Treatment over Simulation, Sensing & Control to Laser Safety. For the first time, we organized a Joint Session with the AiTEM EMobility Community on “Laser Processes for Future Mobility“, which was very well attended by the participants.  

Thanks to the great support of our International Review Committee and their paper evaluation in advance, all accepted scientific papers are published online as a special issue of Elsevier's open access journal 'Procedia CIRP': https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/procedia-cirp/vol/124/suppl/C. The industrial papers are freely accessible via the conference website: https://www.lane-conference.org/industrial-paper-2024.

In order to honor the best talk, all participants had the chance to vote for the “Best Presentation Award LANE 2024” which is sponsored by the “Förder- und Freundeskreis für den Ausbau der Lasertechnologie an der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg e.V. (FFL e.V.)” and endowed with a price money of 1,000 € and a talk at the plenary session of LANE 2026. Congratulations to the two winners Laura Budde (Laser Zentrum Hannover) and Lars Vanmunster (KU Leuven). The third place (endowed with 500 €) goes to Michael Haas (University of Stuttgart).

Equal Opportunities in Science

From the very beginning, equal opportunities in science were of great importance for LANE. This year, workshops on reducing bias and inequalities in science and academic careers met with great interest among the participants and gave the attendees the chance to think outside the box to learn something beyond technical innovations.

The Lab Tour & Cocktail Session

For us, this was a special highlight. We welcomed our guests “at home” in our labs. Laser demos on the state of scientific knowledge, exquisite street food, Franconian beer and delicious cocktails, served by our wonderful colleagues, made this social event so personal and unique. When the last shuttle bus had taken our happy participants back to their hotels, the last evening of the conference came to an end and the best colleagues in the world helped to fold up countless beer tables, you know: It was worth all the efforts! LANE brings people together, not only as scientists but also as persons.

The Closing

After the last talk of this year's final plenary session “Laser Technology in Singapore”, it was time to say goodbye.  At the end, all the participants were given their gingerbread farewell gifts, leaving the LANE team with a smile and a tear in their eye for the fact that it is now over. Nevertheless, we all know the next LANE will come ... ; )
 
Thank you very much to all participants, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, reviewers, chairs, colleagues and supporters that make LANE so special – you are the best!

Your LANE Team